Harriet Tubman in the Memorial to the Underground Railroad in Battle Creek

Photo credit - Battle Creek CVB

This Underground Railroad sculpture commemorates the people in the Battle Creek area who assisted enslaved people to freedom while risking their lives.

During the 1840s and 1850s, fleeing enslaved people passed through Battle Creek on their way to Canada. People, mainly Quakers, in the area provided them with a safe place, protected them from slave catchers (after the US Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850), and helped them reach the next station safely.

Kellogg Foundation commissioned Ed Dwight to design the memorial in 1993, and it was dedicated on October 24th, 1993, near the Kellogg House. Among the other monuments the foundation generously funded in Battle Creek is a statue of the abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth that sculptress Tina Allen designed in 1999.

At 28 feet long and 14 feet high, it is the largest Underground Railroad monument worldwide.
It depicts the famous Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) while guiding a group of enslaved to freedom. She stands next to the local abolitionists, Underground Railroad conductors, and station masters Sarah Bowen Hussey (1808-1899) and her husband Erastus Hussey (1800-1889) as they help enslaved people to a safe place.

Erastus Hussey was a politician who advocated for abolition and was an editor in the Michigan anti-slavery publication: Liberty Press. The Husseys have helped more than a thousand fugitive slaves to freedom.

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. In her late twenties, she escaped and became a free woman who made it her life mission to free as many enslaved people as possible. Tubman became an Underground Railroad conductor, returned to Maryland 19 more times, and helped tens of people escape slavery. During the civil war, she led hundreds to freedom as a scout and spy in the Union Army. She continued advocating and working for equal rights till her last days.

The Bronze plaque reads:
“Memorial to the Underground Railroad.
From the 1830s to 1861, thousands of slaves in the southern United States courageously escaped northward to freedom to what became known as the Underground Railroad. Along this secret network, ‘conductors’ like Battle Creek’s Erastus and Sarah Hussey, whose likenesses are captured in this memorial, took great personal risks to ensure the safety of escaping slaves. Harriet Tubman, known as the Black Moses, was a national heroine of this epic struggle and is depicted leading another brave family away from the shackles of slavery.
This memorial honors the Underground Railroad and is dedicated to the strength of the human spirit in the quest for freedom.
Ed Dwight, Sculptor.
Denver, Colorado. 1993.
This sculpture was made possible by a gift from the Glenn A. Cross Estate and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.”

Click here to explore places about Harriet Tubman and here to read about women abolitionists on the Underground Railroad.

This post is also available in:

Español

Address

Kellogg House Park, 2-10 N Monroe Street, Battle Creek, Michigan, 49017

 

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Please support us so we can write about more landmarks of pioneer women.
 
Donate

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Please support us so we can write about more landmarks of pioneer women.
 
Donate

This post is also available in: Español

Tags: Places in Michigan USA

Shop & Support

Donate & Support
 
Our feminist project of wanderlust and equality-aspired community maps the HerStories of worldwide wonder women.
Explore the website for excellent guided tours, travel tips, unique landmarks, fun girlfriend getaways, events, and in-depth articles about gender, equality, space, and (not-told-enough) female legacy.

About the Project

 

Harriet-Tubman-Statues-by-Jane-DeDecker-Across-the-US-WWP
Memorial & Statue

Harriet Tubman Statues by Jane DeDecker Across the US

AR, AZ, GA, MI, USA

Harriet Tubman, the human rights activist and Abolitionism icon, is commemorated with a statue, created by the known Colorado sculptress Jane DeDecker. Tubman was an enslaved woman who escaped to freedom. Her courage led her to become one of the most important figures at the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of slaves to their freedom. The bronze statue depicts Tubman holding the hand of a boy, guiding him along the Underground Railroad trail. A quote by Tubman’s is inscribed on the pedestal below: “Children if you are tired, keep going. If you’re hungry, keep going. If your scared, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, Keep going” “Children if you are tired, keep going. If you’re hungry, keep going. If your scared, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, Keep going”   Several identical copies of the statue are located across the US: Ypsilanti, Michigan – unveiled on May 21st, 2006. A plaque near the statue is describing Tubman’s life and legacy. Outside of City Hall in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Campus of Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia. It was given to the University in September 1997 and was placed near the library. In 2017, it was moved to the front lawn to be more accessible to the public. In Harriet Tubman Park in Las Sendas Mesa, Arizona – unveiled in 1995. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Rosa Louise Parks Statue in Grand Rapids WWP
Memorial & Statue

Rosa Louise Parks Statue in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Rosa Louise Parks Sculpture, AKA “Stand Up for Rosa Parks,” depicts the mother of the civil rights movement standing next to a bus seat; it was the world’s first standing statue of Parks. It is located at the entrance to Rosa Parks Circle, a park in downtown Grand Rapids, designed by the renowned artist Maya Lin in 1999. Eight years later, the Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission chose Ed Dwight to sculpt a statue in Parks’ honor. Dwight is a Colorado-based sculptor and the first African-American trained by NASA to be an astronaut; he has created many statues of African-American activists, including Harriet Tubman, whose sculpture is part of the Underground Railroad Memorial in Battle Creek, Michigan. Dwight portrayed Parks standing upright, symbolizing her bold action of taking a stand for civil rights. He intended to immortalize Parks as a monumental figure, capturing the essence of her resilience and determination in the face of injustice. Upon its dedication on Sep 30, 2010, it became the first statue of an African-American in Grand Rapids. Rosa Parks (1913-2005) became a civil rights movement icon in 1955 when her arrest, caused by refusing to give up her bus seat, launched the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, which led to the desegregation of public transportation. In her lifetime, Parks fought against discrimination and segregation and fought for equal rights for African Americans. She promoted equality in different fields, including fair housing, equal education, labor rights, police abuse awareness, and freedom of thought and speech. She died of natural causes when she was 92 years old. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Sojourner Truth Monument in Battle Creek WWP
Memorial & Statue

Sojourner Truth Monument in Battle Creek

Battle Creek, MI, USA

On September 25th, 1999, the Battle Creek community dedicated a statue to celebrate and commemorate the legacy of the national heroine, Sojourner Truth, who chose Battle Creek as her home in the last 26 years of her life. The statue, alongside educational programs, is one of the many actions the community has taken to commemorate Truth’s legacy and continue her work promoting equality. The renowned California artist, Tina Allen, designed a 12-foot-tall sculpture of Truth, the world’s largest statue of Truth. Sojourner Truth is depicted during a public speech, standing on a podium, facing a seating area, next to a lectern that holds a bronze plaque with information about the monument and her story. The last sentence inspires the visitors to follow her legacy “…It is for each of us who stand here to carry on the work of truth.” On the stonewall behind the statue is a plaque with her signature, which she wrote in an autograph book owned by a local high school student on April 23rd, 1880. Two other bronze plaque presents her quotes – “…and Truth shall be my abiding name.” “Lord, I have done my duty and I have told the truth and kept nothing back.” Facing the statue is a bronze plaque with her short biography: “Sojourner Truth was born as the slave Isabella in New York State about 1797. As a child she spoke only low Dutch and, like most slaves, she never learned to read or write. While she was in bondage, she married Thomas, a fellow slave, and had five children. She was sold to four new owners before walking away to freedom in 1826. Isabella then settled in New York City until 1843, when she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Relying on her deep religious faith, she was determined to travel the land as an itinerant preacher, speaking the truth and fighting against injustice. She became a prominent figure in several national social reform movements, working for the abolition of slavery, women’s rights, temperance, prison reform, and the rights of former slaves. Sojourner first came to Battle Creek in 1856 to speak to the Quaker Friends of Human Progress. She moved to the area a year later and lived here for the last twenty-six years of her life. She died on November 26, 1883, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Sojourner Truth was perhaps the most famous African American woman in 19th century America. For over forty years she was a passionate advocate for the dispossessed, using her quick wit and fearless tongue to fight for human rights. May her legacy live on.” This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Viola-Liuzzo-Statue-WWP
Memorial & Statue

Viola Liuzzo Statue

Detroit, MI, USA

At the park bearing her name stands a life-size bronze statue of Viola Liuzzo – a civil rights activist that had been murdered by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). On March 25th, 1965, Liuzzo, a 39 years old Detroiter housewife and a mother of five, came from Detroit to Alabama to march with 25,000 activists supporting African-Americans’ right to vote. After the rally, she shuttled marchers and volunteers from Montgomery to Selma, and KKK members shot her in the head and killed her. She is the only white woman to die during the 1960’s civil rights fights. The statue’s dedication ceremony was held on July 23rd, 2019, in front of a crowd of a few hundred people, among them were Liuzzo’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The statue was created by the local Detroiter artist, Austen Brantley. It depicts Liuzzo’s determined expression while she mid-marches, barefoot holding her shoes in one hand, walking away from the KKK hood that lying on the ground; she is moving forward, leaving violence and hatred behind her. This post is also available in: Español Read more...
View all

 

*Disclaimer: Please be aware that the information on this page is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. Learn more here.

Skip to content